Why Troy did not appear in Season 2
by Puterboy1
Summary: My version of why a certain bully was absent for the remainder of the show. Based on The Golden Girls episode "It's a Miserable Life".


On the last day of school before summer vacation in 1984, signatures on a petition were being signed to determine the fate of Hawkins Town Hall's historic clock tower, which had not run for the past thirty years due to electrical failures, among them lightning strikes, which damaged the clock beyond repair. Having signed the petition were a reasonable number of men, women and children, including the local four friends of Dungeons and Dragons.

In the residence of the Wheeler family, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair were looking over their results. Dustin was surprised by one particular name that he saw on the list.

"Wait a minute, Dustin, Barbara Holland is dead."

Lucas threw his arms up in the air.

"Who is she gonna tell?"

The man of the house himself, Mike, came in. He handed his results to Dustin.

"Here you go."

Dustin looked over it.

"Mike, you've been gone for three hours and you only got Jennifer Heyes to sign the petition?"

"Well, give me a chance to freshen up and make myself look attractive. I'll get you another."

Will Byers, the leader of the quartet, walked up with his own results. He was obviously dismayed.

"Bad news, I couldn't get Troy to sign the petition. And if he doesn't support it, the city will probably replace that clock for sure."

The eyes of his friends widened.

"_You_, attempted to have Troy sign the petition?" asked Mike dropping his jaw.

"Well, yeah, but why wouldn't he want to support it?"

"For the same reason he bullies us; Troy Harrington is a one-dimensional, irredeemable, stuck-up son of a bitch who's not afraid to call Afros like me the 'n' word. Believe me, he's the baby of Rosemary's Baby."

Will shook his head at Lucas' words.

"I think there's good in him."

"Good in him?" Dustin was exasperated. "Didn't we tell you that last year, he tried to cut out my baby teeth and send Mike over a cliff?"

"Yeah, but after you told me that Eleven broke his arm, I think he may have changed at bit. All he needs is some little kindness."

There was a short silence, followed by Mike who rested his right hand on Will's left shoulder and spoke civilly.

"I think all that time in the Upside Down has rotted your brain, Will."

"No, it hasn't! Troy may a bit of a bastard, but some people you think are mean just need to be shown a little kindness."

* * *

But some people like Troy Harrington were just plain rotten, so said Lucas Sinclair as he had thought the next day before their last class with Mr. Clarke. Dustin was thinking of bribing the city council by stapling his five-dollar bill to the petition when Will came in looking excited.

"Great news! I just came from Troy's and he says he wants to save the clock!"

Mike lit up a smile.

"You're kidding! How did you manage that?"

"With persistence. I thought I could convince him with some Reese's Pieces and it seemed to do the trick. Now he's convinced that he will help us in return."

"Speak of the devil," muttered Dustin on the bench. "Here comes his son right now."

As Troy came to the door to their classroom, Lucas tried to be civil.

"Hey, um, Troy. How lovely to see you again."

Troy just scoffed like he was a person of very high estate. To be precise, a spoiled prince. He acted as though the events of last year never happened.

"Lovely, from you losers?"

Will stood up in defense.

"We're not losers, we just want to let you know that we are happy for your participation in helping us save the clock."

"Bitch, please," Troy scoffed again. "They should just replace it with a new one."

Will was shocked.

"What about my efforts?"

"I just used you to get the Reese's. You really are a very gullible person, Byers and if I had a world of my own, everyone would be perfect...and perfect does not involve the likes of _you._"

Before anyone could have the chance of beating him to a pulp, Troy left into the classroom and Dustin aimed for the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" Mike asked.

"To throw some holy water on him. If he spits out pea soup and his head spins around, we're in deep shit."

Later in the classroom, Mr. Clarke, at his desk, sat before his students with a pondering question.

"Would anyone like to give their opinions as to why the clock should be preserved?"

Instead of raising his hand like he was supposed to, Troy just sat up to speak out.

"Let me save everyone a lot of time here: I could care less if the city wants to replace their clock."

But Dustin stood up, adding.

"Sixty-two people have already signed a petition to save the clock!"

"Well, I hear that digital clocks are easier for people who can't tell the time."

Will added his voice of reason as well.

"Troy, think about what you are doing! That clock is over one hundred years old, how can you hate a piece of history?"

"Sometimes, history sucks, especially you…you homosexual faggot."

Everyone else gasped and Will, who was willing to unleash the anger he had suffered at his father's hand and voice, stomped over to his desk.

"Troy, if you don't have any common decency to treat your fellow classmates like human beings…then I am sure as hell not going to waste my time kissing your ass."

Everyone gasped again and Will could feel the hard nature of his throat coming to him. Whether it be his voice growing sore or the need to cough, he had no idea.

"If you don't like it, Troy, you can just sit down and shut your fucking mouth while we have our say, and if you don't like just—Drop! Dead!"

He coughed with each word once, then twice, and finally let out a huge one while Troy's mouth was open from gaping in shock. Once he regained his composure, Will made his way back to his desk, instructing Mr. Clarke.

"You may resume."

Will did not know this yet, but when he coughed, it released a slug into Troy's mouth. Troy himself could feel it going down his neck and pretty soon he was beginning to cough and wheeze as his skin turned pale. His breath began to slow, his eyes went wide and his blood congealed at the moment he landed on the floor. The others looked over at him and Mike asked.

"What happened Dustin?"

Dustin looked over to Will.

"You know when you asked him if he'd didn't like it?"

"Yeah?"

"He didn't like it."

As if being dragged into a horribly mysterious place wasn't bad enough, the townsfolk would accuse him of murder…even if the victim was a total asshole.

* * *

Two nights later, Will, sitting at the dinner table, asked his mother.

"Why do people die, Mom?"

"Oh, Will, I don't even know why fools like your father and I fell in love."

The very mention of Lonnie, no matter the direction, was enough to make her increasingly agitated. But Will further expressed his lament.

"I killed him. I might as well could have shot him with a gun."

Joyce could only care less, for at that moment, Jonathan entered the room and was surprised to see his younger brother sitting there on that table like a drunk.

"You can't sleep again, bro?"

"No."

"Don't feel bad about it, you killed Troy two days ago."

Will stared at his older sibling with frustration.

"I mean he died two days ago, but either way, he deserved it."

Will felt uncharacteristically sympathetic towards his tormentor.

"Jonathan, how can you be so callous?"

Jonathan instantly took back his words.

"So go cry at his funeral then. You can invite your friends over."

Will did just that the next day. They were all wearing the same suits they wore at Will's fake funeral and for the most part, they were bored, especially Lucas, who asked.

"Tell me again, why we are doing this?"

"To show the man upstairs that we have respect for human life, no matter how evil it was."

* * *

There were very few people in the church, most of them consisting of Troy's extended family. Three other members showed up, a man, woman and surprisingly, Nancy Wheeler's current beau, Steve.

"I hope we're not too late," Steve said to the younger boys.

Dustin shook his head, reassuring him.

"Not at all, they just started two minutes ago."

Lucas, who could only care less out of the quartet, begrudgingly listened to _Gloria_ on Will's Walkman as Steve stood up to the podium and delivered a stirring speech.

"Sadness is always one of the most awful things we have in life, but I knew Troy better than anyone else, and perhaps if he was a nicer person, he could have spent his time providing necessities and benefits for charities and hospitals. He could have made friends with a lot of orphans. So if he's up there, or down there, listening…I'm sure his older brother will know that I am going to make a better human being of himself."

Hearing the words "older brother" caused the boys' eyebrows to rise, their eyes grew wide and Mike's jaw nearly dropped when he squealed.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

Steve heard this and reversed his sentence.

"That his older brother, that being me, will make a better person of himself than he was."

Now the boys' jaws had dropped all the way and their faces expressed pure shock. The possibility of this kind teen being related to their younger tormentor seemed almost improbable in their heads. Will found his voice.

"You're his brother?"

"Yes," Steve nodded.

Will kneeled before him like the high school king the man really was. He was unsure if he wanted to tell the truth.

"I apologize for your loss."

By the time the funeral had finished, the boys left one at a time and Will was the last to leave, looking back at his "murder victim". Who would have ever known that there could have been a shred of goodness lying deep inside this demon spawn who had been summoned back to Hell?

* * *

Eventually they saved the clock tower and things seemed to be going back to normal, but it was Will's idea to have a monument installed on it in Troy's honor, courtesy of the Harrington family. The other boys remarked that it felt wonderful to see Troy having done some good in his life (posthumously), but it was Dustin who thought it seemed touching at how the pigeons were paying their own respects.


End file.
